I see people. I see great people. The problem is, they don't know they're great.
Now if that sounds like a corrupted Haley Joel Osment line taken from The Sixth Sense, good because it was meant to.
One of the single greatest joys in working with my life coaching clients is charting the change - no, the complete metamorphosis - they undergo as we gradually pull the veil away from their eyes to reveal their true magnificence. Magnificence I hasten to add, that's always been in there just waiting to be activated. There is often some kind OMG! switch flicked in their consciousness, and I can see the light bulb illuminate over their head, when they discover their greatness was always within. These epiphanies can be as emotional for some as they are revelatory, and it's my privilege to witness such beautiful growth, and the birth of courageous personal development. You see once you've been given the keys to an Aston Martin, you won't ever want to go back to driving a Reliant Robin again.
Just as a caterpillar must respect the process of metamorphosis and spend time in transition (the chrysalis), life coaching clients have work to do before they can burst into life and reveal their full potential. The first order of business is to accept, and lean into, initiating the change to begin with, and to do that they must stop wallowing in their current mediocrity. They must look around and acknowledge their life is merely "okay", or "not bad". However they may choose to describe it, their life will certainly not be great, fantastic or Utopian, because they'd have no use for me if it was.
If you're identifying with this description of a life you wish to improve, please start by thinking about this: Life works in equilibrium, similar to a pendulum on a clock. The tides ebb and flow. We have day, then night. What goes up must come down. We are either victorious or defeated, yin or yang - you get the gist. So the simple truth in life is, that to achieve great things or to gain great rewards, you're going to have to risk greatly because one side of the pendulum is not possible without the other. There must be equilibrium in all things. There must be balance.
This doesn't mean you have to dash out and sell a kidney or gamble the mortgage payments. You absolutely do not have to put yourself at a health and safety risk at all, but you do have to risk your ego. Your ego is your soul's worst enemy. Your ego is this single biggest obstruction to the achievement of anything. Your ego would prefer to keep you small and safely tucked away in a stifling comfort zone, than risk appearing foolish, making a mistake or discouraging those you wish to impress. Your ego is a hermetic seal keeping you from adventure, risk, reward and growth. I'm almost struggling to breathe writing about it, so before embarking on the completion of your dreams, please check your ego at the door.
Think about. Billions of people have walked this earth, past through this life without ever realising their goals and dreams; you may even know of some of them? Do you want to be yet another? Do you want to be the kind of person who's crippled by what others think of them, so you'd prefer not to even try, rather than risk feeling uncomfortable? You do know this type of person will never achieve their dreams because they don't have the guts to risk the life they're living, for the life they are truly capable of? Is this who you are? Is this who you want to remain, or do you want to tear open the hermetic seal of your ego and stretch out into all that you can be?
Like I said a moment ago, the life you're living now is probably "not bad", or "okay" - but therein lies the problem, because it's comfortable enough. It's not bad enough to shake you into doing something about it. It's not bad enough to wake you up and compel you to do whatever it takes to create the life you actually deserve. You're wallowing. You're wallowing in mediocrity. The answer is to shake yourself awake, acknowledge your reality, initiate and lean into making a deliberate change and do whatever it takes to make stuff happen. Wishing for something never made it so. You must act because Action Changes Things!
Do you even know what your goals and dreams are? That's as good a place to start, don't you think? Sit quietly avoiding distractions (away from your phone and devices) and really connect with yourself. Be patient, it may take a while to surface from your subconscious. Write down what you want to achieve and by when; be sure to give it a deadline. If it works for you, try writing your own eulogy and then work backwards from there. If you know what you want others to say about you at your funeral, you now know what you have to accomplish. Here's my imaginary eulogy, by way of example.
Starting right here, right now, make a conscious decision to stop wallowing in mediocrity and claim the dream inside of you. Then be willing to risk your ego to realise the life you're truly capable, because this isn't it. Give me a shout if you need a hand, you know where to find me, but in the meantime please go and create your greatness.
Karan x